RFA Sir Tristram (L3505)
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| Career |  
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|---|---|
| Ordered: | |
| Laid down: | February 1966 |
| Launched: | December 12 1966 |
| Commissioned: | September 14 1967 |
| Decommissioned: | |
| Fate: | Template:Active in service |
| Struck: | |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 6,407 tonnes |
| Length: | 135.8 m |
| Beam: | 17.7 m |
| Draught: | 3.9 m |
| Propulsion: | Two ten-cylinder turbocharged Mirrlees National diesels plus one 400 hp (298 kW) bow thruster |
| Speed: | 15 knots (28 km/h) |
| Range: | |
| Complement: | 51 |
| Armament: | Four Oerlikon 20 mm guns Four 7.62 mm machine guns |
| Aircraft: | Aft flight deck: one spot for Westland Sea King or Westland Lynx; vehicle deck: one spot for CH-47 Chinook, Sea King or Lynx |
| Motto: | |
RFA Sir Tristram (L3505) is a Landing Ship Logistics of the Round Table class. It was launched in 1966, and accepted into British Army service in 1967. As with others of its class, it was taken over by the Royal Navy in 1970. The ship saw service in the Falklands War, and was badly damaged at Fitzroy on June 8. Sir Tristram was abandoned during this incident. Thereafter the hulk was refloated and towed to Port Stanley, where it was used for accommodation and shelter until 1984. Sir Tristram was then returned to the United Kingdom on a heavy lift ship and extensively rebuilt.
Following the rebuild, Tristram reentered active service in 1985, and saw service in the Gulf War, and the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s. The ship supported relief operations for Hurricane Mitch off Central America. In 2000 the ship deployed to Sierra Leone in support of British operations there, followed by a cruise to the Baltic in support of MCMVs. Early 2001 saw Sir Tristram return to Sierra Leone to take over from Sir Percivale as the ship supporting British forces ashore there. In 2003 the ship deployed as part of the largest British fleet for 20 years in support of the invasion of Iraq.
| Round Table-class landing ship logistics |
| Sir Lancelot | Sir Bedivere | Sir Galahad | Sir Geraint | Sir Percivale | Sir Tristram |
| List of amphibious assault ships of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary |